Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. Acquires 58 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,160 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of COST opened at $1,048.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $983.85 and its 200 day moving average is $975.63. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a PE ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.